All posts by Mark Jacobsen

Hakuna Tabata

08/11/2017 Mark Jacobsen Leave a comment

I was listening to another James Altucher podcast the other day when his guest, Shawn Stevenson, mentioned a “tabata” (aka HIIT) workout almost in passing. But what caught my attention was the 4 minute duration! Given that, how could I not give this a try…

If you want a quick primer (and it’s really simple) you can check out this link, but basically all you’re doing is 20 seconds at max intensity followed by 10 seconds of rest then repeat that 8 times.

Now, don’t go trying to count the time in your head. Instead get an interval timer like the aptly named “Interval Timer” for audio and visual queues.

Once you have the interval timer setup here’s some suggestions (yes, I realize some are not really aerobic and purests may balk but I don’t care)…

Sprints (yeah, that’s it. But it’s only 4 minutes)
Lap/Length in the pool (this one the timer may not work so great for, but 20 seconds is about how long it takes me to do a lap/length – depending on pool size)
Curls, air squats, pushups, situps (x2)

Other things you might throw in the mix could be jumping rope, running in place, jumping jacks, or anything else that gets you moving. Google Tabata or HIIT for other ideas. Let me know how it goes if you give it a try!

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Disclaimer: Thoughts and opinions are my own, and do not reflect the views of any employer, family member, friend, or anyone else. Some links may be affiliate links, but I don't link to anything I don't use myself. You would think this should be self evident these days, but apparently not...

Apps, Productivity

Toodledo: Rekindling an old flame

08/01/2017 Mark Jacobsen Leave a comment

Many moons ago there weren’t a lot of options for good web based task management systems. Being the nerd I am I tried a few and fell fast for Toodledo. Not because of it’s pretty face, or exotic sounding name, but because it does just about everything and more.

But, time moved on and I couldn’t get my wife to understand and appreciate this fling (that, and the collaboration functionality is a paid feature). So, to make peace we decided to use Wunderlist (i.e. it was the only one I could get her to use) which was great for a time, but then it was bought out by Microsoft, the site started getting slow, and the announcement was made that they would pull the plug and force everyone over to their new todo app (which to date doesn’t have a fraction of the features of Wunderlist).

So, lost in the woods and dragging my tail between my legs I logged back into my Toodledo account after being gone for too long. There was the fast, no-nonsense, easy to use task system I loved from the beginning. And new features had been added since I ran off in the night like lists and habit tracking.

Now, I’m back in love with the features that are sorely lacking or overly burdensome in most of the task management systems available. Things like start dates, start and due times (yes, imagine that – things need to be started or completed at specific times), duration planning, timers, priorities, status, and so much more! Add in the ability to create custom saved searches and it’s the engineers dream.

In addition, with the new habit tracking feature there’s one less app that I need on my phone, and because Toodledo “gets it”, the functionality is also available on the web and in the app.

In the end, if you’re tired of feeling like a sad sack with your trailer trash task management system that only lets you track tasks, and due date, and maybe a description I would strongly suggest you check out Toodledo and start up a new flame!

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Motivation

It’s not the critic who counts

04/09/2017 Mark Jacobsen 1 Comment

Yesterday caused me to be reminded of this great quote by Theodore Roosevelt…

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

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Misc / Random

Favorite Super Bowl Ads

02/05/2017 Mark Jacobsen Leave a comment

The full version…

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Life

My 1 Word for 2017

01/30/2017 Mark Jacobsen Leave a comment

For a few years now I’ve watched as people I follow have picked 1-3 words to focus on. As Christopher S Penn as described it, “It’s something of a mantra, something of a phrase we used to remind ourselves what we are supposed to be focused on at any given time during the year.”

While interesting, I haven’t taken the time to do so until this year. Now I realize the first month of the year is almost over, but I picked my word near the beginning. Plus, now that I’ve had a little time to test it out I think it’s more appropriate to write about it. So without further ado, my 1 word for 2017 is…

Present

…and in case anyone is confused about what variation I’m referring to it’s “the period of time that is happening now”. In other words: being present in the present. Some may call it being mindful.

On the off chance you’re wondering why I happened to pick being present it mostly has to do with building connections and trying not to miss things because I’m distracted. Our kids only grow up once, and if you’re buried under a pile of work or have your nose buried in your phone you’ll miss it. I think this video does a great job of touching on the topic…

… So now, if you’re like me you’re probably asking, “ok, so what are you actually going to do?”. I’ve already started by turning off nearly all notifications on my phone (yes, there are a few exceptions, but it would probably be in all of our best interests to find the notification settings on our phones). I’ve turned off email notifications at work (no, I don’t need the toaster popping up every time I get an email). I’m trying to remind myself to keep my phone in my pocket except for when I’m sitting down and not with others (lunch, walking the halls, etc). And as of today I’ve buried the Face Space app on my phone (will still be able to post, but the goal is to not check it except for 1 time a day and from a laptop/PC).

What about you? Have you ever picked a word or words to focus on for a year? What did you pick and why?

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Food

Canada Creek Ribs

10/20/2016 Mark Jacobsen 1 Comment

I had blogged this a number of years back, but due to changes it managed to disappear from the interwebs. Back for everyone’s benefit…

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m not the cook in our family, but every so often I come across a recipe that becomes a staple. I think I found another one…

While hanging out at my college buddy’s cabin in Canada Creek (near Atlanta, MI) he made the most delicious, fall off the bone baby back ribs I’ve probably ever had. Naturally, I had to get the recipe.

Go to the store and get…

– Baby Back Ribs
– Sweet Baby Rays BBQ Sauce
– Garlic Salt
– Paprika
– Hickory Salt (I used Hickory Bacon Salt)

The morning of (or the night before), sprinkle the Garlic Salt, Hickory Salt, and Paprika on the ribs, wrap them in aluminum foil, and stick them back in the fridge.

Appox 5-6 hours before dinner, put the ribs (still wrapped in aluminum foil – I’d also suggest on a cookie sheet) in the oven at 300. Let them cook for 4-6 hours (I did 5.5).

Once they have cooked for 4-6 hours, fire up the grill. Put the ribs on the grill (no cookie sheet) leaving the aluminum foil under them (but opened up). Slather with BBQ sauce and let cook for another 10 minutes or so.

Enjoy!

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DB2

DB2 Ownership Transfer

10/03/2016 Mark Jacobsen Leave a comment

If you ever get an error in DB2 along the lines of…

SQLCODE=-727, SQLSTATE=56098, SQLERRMC=1;-551;42501;MARKJ|EXECUTE|XX.PROC_P

…but in your code are executing the proc as another user (say “USR1”) instead of MARKJ, it may be that MARKJ created the proc and until recently still had the necessary access for executing everything in XX.PROC_P. Subsequently permissions were “fixed” and now stuff starts blowing up all over because MARKJ no longer has access. How to fix? Well, like all things I’m sure there are a million ways to do it, but the easiest in this situation was to have MARKJ transfer the ownership on everything he owned. To determine that, the following SQL was run to generate the commands, then the commands were run…


SELECT 
CASE ROUTINETYPE WHEN 'F' THEN
    'TRANSFER OWNERSHIP OF FUNCTION  '||
    RTRIM(ROUTINESCHEMA)||'.'|| ROUTINENAME ||
    ' TO USER DB2DBA PRESERVE PRIVILEGES; '
ELSE
    'TRANSFER OWNERSHIP OF PROCEDURE  '||
    RTRIM(ROUTINESCHEMA)||'.'|| ROUTINENAME ||
    ' TO USER DB2DBA PRESERVE PRIVILEGES; '
END
FROM SYSCAT.ROUTINES 
WHERE OWNER = 'MARKJ' 
WITH UR;

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Challenges

Weekly Challenge 9: Stretch

07/17/2016 Mark Jacobsen Leave a comment

Weekly challenge 9 will be structured slightly different than previous challenges. Because I’m trying to reduce the number of apps and things to update as well as to schedule things on my calendar, I’m dropping my personal use of coach.me. That said, if it works for you please keep using it to motive yourself!

This weeks challenge is a simple one, but one we probably all forget about. I want you to simply stretch every day. From what I’ve read our bodies start to tighten up as we get older and that can lead to other problems or at least make them worse.

So add stretching to your habit tracker, calendar, or task list of choice. If you still want accountability or to chat, just use this blog’s commenting features.

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Giving

We Believe

06/18/2016 Mark Jacobsen Leave a comment

There’s no reason in today’s day and age that everyone shouldn’t have access to safe and clean water. Today I’ve recommitted myself by setting up a recurring contribution to charity:water. Will you join in? Donate today.

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Life

It’s Time to Grow Up and Figure this Out

06/15/2016 Mark Jacobsen 1 Comment

“These are weapons of war”. “Nobody I know or have ever met in my entire life should have access to a weapon that can kill so many people so quickly”

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